The Obikà Mozzarella Bar was first opened in Rome in 2004. With its unique concept of ‘mozzarella’ bar, the chain has expanded to outside Italy such as US, Japan and UK (four in London).

We first went to Obikà at Selfridges just after its opening (I am not sure if it is still there, as it is not listed on their website). It was new experience and exciting to eat fresh mozzarella in a nice ambience. But our good impression about Obikà turned sour after we second time experience at newly opened venue on Charlotte street. Their mozzarella was good, but you can have good ones at London’s any Italian deli and you can make your own cheaper at home. On the contrary to its sleek interior, their pastas were mediocre, not different from other Italian chains such as nearby Zizzi or Strada, and the taste of the sauces were not fresh but mass produced. I don’t know how they could manage to survive in Italy with harsh competition and make themselves world-wide??

West End’s popular Italian is certainly Bocca di Lupo. This restaurant is not Italian owned but is operated by two Italian-loving British chefs. Their love in Italian cuisine is real. Their food, mixture of regional dishes across Italy, is as good as, or even better than many other Italian counterparts. No wonder why it is so hard to book a table at Bocca di Lupo with only 14 tables, not only on weekend but also weekdays. In fact, we were lucky that we got a table without reservation on Thursday night at 10pm, when we could dine there for the first and only time. Since then I checked their website every now and then, trying to book a table but always failed. I checked today from curiosity for next available reservation for dinner and is on January 2nd, either before 6pm or after 9:45pm (they close the restaurant from Dec 24 till Jan 2). Crazy! Maybe a good idea to buy their “Bocca recipe book” and cook yourself if you want to try their food.

I went there 8 month ago (time flies!) and I cannot remember exactly what we ordered – tomato sauce-based Tagliolini and Orecchiette, and side dishes of Erbette (Chard), Agretti and Brased artichokes, according to the receipt (photo below), but I do remember all the dishes were good. Nevertheless our experience doesn’t matter as they change their menus almost every day, sometimes twice a day to keep up with the changing seasons, they claim. If you fancy ice cream, you can have delicious gelato at sister shop Gelupo across the street after dining at Bocca di Lupo, as well as their own desert menu.

By the way, “Bocca di Lupo” means “mouth of the wolf” in Italian as Independent review says, and “in Bocca al Lupo (into the mouth of the wolf)” for good luck. So Evening Standard review is wrong. The answer to the phrase is “crepi (il lupo) (may the wolf die!)” “in Bocca al Lupo” for your try to book a table at Bocca di Lupo!

Luce e Limoni (“light and lemons” in Italian) is an Italian restaurant specialising traditional Sicilian cuisine, and another venue by Fabrizio Zafarana from Sicily, the owner of Fabrizio restaurant on St Cross Street in Clerkenwell. We just found this place by chance, and tried this good looking place.

The restaurant is elegantly decorated with a Sicilian ambient with drawings of lemons on the walls. Equally their dishes looked great when served. However, a disappointment struck us after we started eating – the food was bland and didn’t have much flavours. The sauce didn’t taste freshly made but came from a jar. I had the similar dishes in Sicily and were far better. It is not fair to compare the cuisine in Sicily and Sicilian cuisine in London, as the ingredients cannot be the same here and there. But still, I think they can do a bit better. Probably we won’t come back…

If you are a long-time reader of my blog, you know we like Italian food and wrote quite some times about Italian eateries. This week, I will write about Italian restaurants we’ve been in last few months.

First is Paesan on hip Exmouth Market. They call themselves as “Paesan (shorted version of “paesano,” Italian for “countryman”)” and their food as “cucina povera (“cooking of the poor” or “peasant kitchen”).” Their “simple & humble” food is inspired by people’s favorite family dishes in Italy.

The restaurant creates rusty feels but sleeker and more urban. We traveled across Italy and enjoyed real paesanty food, but the restaurant is not true “cucina povera” but London’s another fashionable restaurant for middle class with middle class pricing. And a list of fancy ‘vintage’ cocktails and champagne contradicts the concept of “cucina povera”. I just don’t like such phoniness and pretentiousness, and their food was not a standard of real great Italian paesant cooking. I rather go to Ombra for this kind of Italian food – they do the better job than Paesan.

Vivo Bakery-Café-Bar is a new casual Italian eatery on Upper Street, Islington. It opened in August, I believe. Vivo (“lively, vivacious, soulful, vibrant” in Italian) offers all day a selection of Italian prepared dishes using the regional Italian ingredients, such as pizza ‘al taglio’ (rectangular slices), lasagne, a variety of fresh salads, as well as a range of Italian desserts, pastries and sweets. You can see them all showcased on 14-m long granite food counter. You can eat lunch or dinner, have a cup of Neapolitan coffee & dolce, or drink Italian wines with nibbles.

Now I want to ask you a question – does Vivo remind you of something? May be Princi in SOHO? Indeed, their concept of cafeteria style is the same, their interior looks alike, and their range of food is almost identical. Maybe they copied Princi or maybe not. But I don’t care, and probably other customers. There is only one Princi in London so far, and it is much easier for us to come to nearby Angel. Their food is authentic and great as Princi, and it is more relaxed, not like as Princi where is always packed of people and noisy.

When we moved in Hackney about 7 years ago, Kingsland Road and Dalston used to look quite different from now. There was no fancy apartment complex, stylish stores, hip restaurants/cafés, in this predominantly African and Caribbean neighborhood, represented by the place like Ridley Road Market selling exotic vegetables and Halal meat. Since London Overground East London line opened two years ago, young British and Europeans who can’t afford to live Hoxton and Shoreditch have gradually invaded this area, so as restaurants and cafés targeting those people. Tin Café, Bird Café, Other Café are some of them I wrote previously.

Italian-own Fabrica 584 café is another one of those. As other fellow cafés, the interior is rough, bare and edgy, and atmosphere is laid-back. What Italians are generally better than British at is food and coffee, and Fabrica 584 is not an exception. Their sandwiches were fresh and delicious, and my flat white was exactly the way I wanted (though flat white is not Italian invention).

M is a big pizza fan. He has to take a look, every time he finds a good looking pizzeria. When we were driving through North Gate road, he immediately spotted this “pizzeria & wine shop” Sweet Thursday and stopped his vespa right away. After few days later, we visited Sweet Thursday to try their pizza.

Front is the wine shop and pizzeria space, decorated in funky retro-modern style, on the back. There is a big table for a larger group, facing a nice & quiet small garden. Owners are not Italians but De Beauvoir natives, but the staffs seen in the open kitchen were all Italians, including an experienced-looking middle age pizzaiolo.

They serve Napoli style pizza for eat-in or takeaway, made using the ingredients from Naples with traditional pizza making techniques. You can either choose topping from their menu or create your own. We ordered classic margherita with extra anchovies topping, as we always do (we are very conservative about pizza). It was looking good, and tasted good – chewy dough with mozzarella melting nicely into sweet tomato sauces. It was nice, at least on the first visit. We went there for the second time, the master pizzaiola was nowhere to be seen. And pizza was not as good as the first one… I realize that pizza looks easy to make, but pizzaiolo’s skill is definitely needed for a great pizza. And the same for sushi, just an small addition. So please don’t believe that YO! sushi or Tesco’s sushi is authentic and as good as the counterparts in Japan! Anyway, we have to check if the pizzaiola is there next time we go.

As for wine, they seem to have good selection of wines, and even their house wines are organic from Sicily (1 litre carafe: £16.50 for white / £20 for red). Apart from their menu, you can also have any bottle at their wine shop with a small corkage fee. If you eat at the restaurant, you can have 10% off the price of wine in their shop that day. They also host wine tasting events as well, if you are interested.